Follow Epicurious!

Food News Round-Up: The Buzz on Caffeine Addiction

by Michael Y. Park

on 05/02/13 at 09:00 AM

Shh! Don't Tell Tanya: Let's not worry our coffee-obsessed editor-in-chief unnecessarily, but the FDA has said it has begun an investigation into the health consequences of our rapidly expanding plethora of caffeinated products from gum to water enhancers to waffles. Currently, only soda has restrictions on the levels of caffeine it contains. The FDA says it wants to examine whether the other caffeinated products might be causing negative effects, whether the increasing number of caffeine sources are having a cumulative effect, and if it might be a good idea to slap a cautionary warning on caffeinated products from now on.

Breading Is Fundamental: PS 244 in Flushing, Queens is going all-vegetarian, becoming the first vegetarian public school in the country, swapping tofu and falafel for chicken and beef and introducing wraps, salads and fresh veggies instead of the greasy fare many of us remember from the cafeterias of yesteryear. So ... no sloppy Joe Wednesdays?

Hungry, Hungry History: How bad was that winter of 1609-1610 in the Jamestown colony? So bad that the starving colonists butchered and ate a 14-year-old girl, according to anthropologists who have reconstructed human bone fragments discovered among the remains of butchered animals at the historical site. So there's a story you'll be hearing over turkey this Thanksgiving from that uncle who mixes up 1610 with 1621 and Jamestown, Va., with Plymouth, Mass.

Booze-ocracy: In the midst of a much ballyhooed anti-corruption drive from Beijing, Chinese officials are re-living their college years by sneaking vodka in mineral-water bottles. But they'll totally pull an all-nighter for that Party function in two weeks, so they're not worried.

France Surrenders: For the first time, fast-food restaurants account for a whopping 54 percent of food establishments in the cradle of Western culinary tradition, according to a survey, thanks to shorter lunch breaks, tighter wallets, and, yes, snobby French waiters. Guess they can't call it the "French Woman Diet" anymore.

Diet by Fiat: The Wisconsin assembly will vote on a committee-approved bill that would limit the amount of junk food that could be bought with food stamps. Recipients would be required to spend two-thirds of their allowance on basic staples like milk, bread and vegetables. "I don't want to ban Nachos or Doritos from anyone's grandson because my grandson eats it. But the fact is, reasonable limitation is not asking for too much," says Rep. Dean Kaufert. The bill's opponents say the government shouldn't be in the business of dictating what people do or don't eat. The twist: Kaufert's a Republican, and the bill's opponents are Democrats.